Paul Raven

I never understood why soaps cast actors older than their characters. Sometimes it works, but often not. Especially when they have 25 yr olds playing 18. More often than not, within a few years the actor and character seem the same age.

It's funny because the show is pretty good about using day players . Surely a scene where Chelsea/Kat are finishing a meeting with an associate and briefly discuss a business strategy or Pam/Dani meet with an assistant and so on wouldn't be unreasonable.

One 'convenient couple ' that worked out was Bob &Kim. They had a one night stand in 73 that didn't go down well. Bob was married! To Kim's sister! Kim was painted as the villainess here for seducing her brother in law and punished by getting pregnant, losing the baby and trapped in a horrible marriage to John. Bob and Kim went their separate ways-Kim/Dan/Nick and a few other suitors. Bob-Miranda and teases with Valerie/Sandy/Lisa etc A decade later they had pretty much exhausted all romantic possibilities -and the show wasn't super invested in casting in that age group-so they found there way back to each other ,got married and stayed together till the finale.

@Huntress Thanks for that B&B list. That show sets the standard for the fizzle. However, some of those charcters eg Tristan's Hunter, were only ever intended as short term and put on contract to ensure they would be available for the duration. Days- Sandy Horton . Twice in the 80's Sandy was cast and this was a big thing as she had been off for at least a decade and it seemed the Horton family would be replenished. But the actresses were bland and she only ever got B stories. Sandy disappeared again and hasn't been spotted in 40 years.

Katie and Mark left in August 78. Marland/Monty were smart in that they didn't do a massive housecleaning. GH had a couple of years with that previously. Also it might have been a contract thing. Maybe Gerald Gordon had that clause that he would have to be paid out if he was written out early.? Gina and Gary were wed in March 78 and there wasn't much story after that. I was surprised they made it till June 79. There was some sibling rivalry stuff with Gary's brother Howard and Gary's decision to become an author and give up medicine. Gina and Gary realize their marriage is over because they have different goals in life. Gary goes to New York to pursue his writing career while Gina is off to Wyoming and a medical research grant. Overall, the only character quickly dropped was Lana/Lisa, the spilt personality chick involved with Jeff.

Nov 21 1980 CBS Dallas (Kristen revealed as JR's shooter) 53.3/76 #1 ABC Movie Convoy 11.9/18 #59 NBC Magazine 4.6/7 #60

Interesting that the opening shots for both shows were 2 older characters Mona and Asa.

Exactly. The kidnap story would be way more interesting with a location shoot, a team of police combing the city etc etc. Sharon is too busy blasting Phyllis at GCAC to care about Mariah the kidnapper. Speaking of Phyllis, she is reaching new heights of delusion and the character is being shown for what she is, but I get the feeling we are supposed to have some sympathy for her. Anyway, within months this will all be forgotten and she'll be back with Nick or Billy.

Kin Shriner to Texas. One of daytime's hottest hunks paid 6 figures to get GH viewers to switch over. Except he was hired w/o a character or a story. He played out the 1 year contract, took the money and headed back to GH. He said most of his fan mail was along the lines of 'Scotty, when are you coming back to GH?'

Ratings for the soaps 1944/45 season. Title/number of seasons/network/timeslot/rating. Not sure if this is of interest but I can post more if you request. When a Girl Marries S6 NBC 5pm 9.2 Portia Faces Life S5 NBC 5.15 8.3 Ma Perkins S12 CBS 1.15 8.3 NBC 3.15 8.3 The only soap to get a twice daily airing on each network. Our Gal Sunday S8 CBS 12.45 7.6 Backstage Wife NBC S10 4pm 7.4 Big Sister CBS S9 12.15 7.4 Pepper Young's Family S9 NBC 3.30 7.3 Lorenzo Jones S8 NBC 4.30 7.2 Young Widder Brown S8 NBC 4.45 7.2 Stella Dallas S8 NBC 4.15 7.0 Today's Children S6 NBC 2.15 6.9 Aunt Jenny's Stories S9 CBS 11.45 6.6 Life Can Be Beautiful S7 CBS 1pm 6.6 Right to Happiness S6 NBC 3.45 6.4 Romance of Helen Trent S11 CBS 12.30 6.1 Just Plain Bill S13 NBC 5.30 5.6 Front Page Farrell S4 NBC 5.45 5.5 , The Guiding Light S6 NBC 2pm 5.4 Woman in White S6 NBC 2.30 5.4 The Goldbergs S13 CBS 1.45 5.0 Road of Life S8 NBC 11.00 4.9 Bachelors Children S9 CBS 10.45 4.6 Woman of America S2 NBC 3.00 4.6 Bright Horizons S4 CBS 11.30 4.5 Joyce Jordan MD S7 CBS 2pm 4.4 Two on a Clue S1 CBS 2.15 4.3 Tena and Tim S1 CBS 2.45 4.0 Story of Mary Marlin S11 CBS 3pm 3.8 Perry Mason S@ CBS 2.30 3.6 Rosemary S1 NBC 11.15 3.5 Amanda of Honeymoon Hill S5 CBS 11.00 3.3 Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters S1 CBS 10.30 3.0 Second Husband S8 CBS 11.15 3.4 Valiant Lady S7 CBS 10.00 3.3 Light of the World S5 CBS 10.15 2.9 Lora Lawton S2 NBC 2pm 10.00 2.9 David Harum S9 NBC 11.45 2.3 This Life is Mine S2 CBS 9.45 no rating as the show had no sponsor.

I'm talking about characters that came on and seemed set up for a decent run but within a few months, or under a year were dropped. Maybe the actor/character just didn't click or there was a writer change but for whatever reason they were out the door. This idea for this topic came about reading the Days thread when Doug 111 was discussed. Here was a new character that arrived to coincide with Doug's death, bearing the name of this legendary character. So quite a bit of fanfare but gone fairly soon-how long was his run? BITD Y&R introduced Kurt Costner , seeming to be groomed as a new lead-a man of mystery who attracted Ashley and Hope. Played by Leigh McCloskey known from Dallas etc. But Bill Bell didn't seem inspired and Kurt was shuffled out of town. I'm sure there are many other examples to be shared. Who comes to mind for you?

ONE LIFE TO LIVE Beverly __ Crane Maeve McGuire Sept 19 1994-95 Governor ___ Camden William Meisle July 22- ? 1999? Connie Bensoncroft Gloria Biegler Peter Mannings girlfriend Dec 6-? 1994 Edwina (Ethel) "Cookie" Lewis Dane Margaret Klenck Oct 77-85 Peter Allen Peter Allen July 16 82 Chris Botti singer Chris Botti Sept 23/24 1997 Steve Burke Bernard Grant Dec 70 -75 Dr. Peter Brewster Ed Fry Aug 17-? 1999 Nurse Susan Barry killed Rachel Wilson Farmer and set up the man she loved, Larry Wolek; accidentally killed Mark Toland in a drunken struggle to keep the secret Killed by speeding motorcycle Lisa Richards July 1974- Sept 75 Dr. Alan Bennett Roger Rathburn Jan - ? 1977 dated Karen Ethan Allen Bottomly Stuart Germain Dec 1977-78 Clint Buckley Becky Lee Hunt's proposed musicial manager attempted to rape Becky Lee and Lana Bruce Detrick Nov -? 1977

Good for BTG. The first ratings surge. Hopefully that will continue.

If say Joey has a innocent daughter who came back from boarding school, unaware of her dad's true nature and she gets involved with Tyrell and both sets of parents are against it, then Donnell is also interested which causes conflict for Joey and Vanessa. And Samantha is interested in Donnell.... Agnes Nixon soapwriting 101.

The other shows resort to those kind of tropes usually b/c they've been on for years and the characters have done everything-that's when long lost children, baby switches, evil twins, serial killers etc turn up. BTG is shiny and new and have plenty of avenues to explore before having to go to soap cliches.

Agree.

LOVING Shirley the conductor Shirley Stoler July-August 1993 Robert "Mack" Huston Tony Musante July 26 1993-94 Carly Rescott Alden Slavinsky Colleen Quinn Sept 2 1990-92; 1994 Ralph from the Diner Ronn Carroll July 22- 1994

They need to keep teasing Danni/Bill (in believable ways, not contrived circumstances) Danni did stick with Bill over many years, so even though she claims otherwise, she is still attracted to him. It was only the particular circumstances (and Hayley's agenda) that lead to divorce. Andre is a viable obstacle and it's good they are writing the relationship as meaningful and not just a diversion for Dani. How many more months can they get out of Hayley/Bill before it becomes repetitive? Either she will be exposed in a big event story eg taking Bill to St Lucia(?) to finish him off with Dani to the rescue or there will be a bitter divorce with Hayley having dirt on Bill and going for a big payout. That would also have Dani supporting Bill as he realizes he's been gamed. I'm sure there is something in Andre's past that will surface and provide some conflict for him and Dani. The secret is to have near misses for Bill/Hayley as they are more interesting apart .The 'happy ending' should be along time coming.

A lot of actors don't watch their shows. Primarily interested in their own scenes, don't have time/interest or need to read the whole script for the episode.

It was live so zero chance it survived, I would think.

Geraldine Court was another of the 70's soap stars who through choice or fate didn't land another contract gig in the 80's. They aged out of leading lady eligibility and there were fewer roles in the 80's for older women. See Barbara Rodell, Barbara Rucker, Jacquie Courtney, Jada Rowland, Lydia Bruce, etc

We know things are bad when an open door gets praise. We started off at the CCAC where the director decided to do a sweeping shot to emphasize that one of GC's premier meeting spots is EMPTY. Nice choice. Oh and Jill is not well. Why not just kill her off so she can join her grandson in the afterlife.? God forbid one of the most dynamic characters be allowed to thrive. Like a scene from an Irwin Allen disaster flick Phyllis swoops into Victor's office -fire/flood/ swarm of killer bees-ranting that Victor needs to vacate because SHE is now queen of Genoa City. Oh yes Cane was there also with Billy Flynn doing his best Marcel Marceau. So somehow NE is now under their control. Just like that. Mmm I might take over a company myself. I'll go to a local cafe and formulate my plan, it seems easy enough. And they can just barge into Victor's office-no security in the lobby, tags to access the elevator etc . Phyllis called out Victor and his family for all their crimes and misdemeanors, which would have been sweet music to my ears had it not been coming from an equally repulsive character. And Victor was propped at his desk, managing to finally splutter some threat and order them out. Meanwhile Mariah is able to creep around the Chancellor Estate-again, no gates/security system. Gotta love this show. Never misses an opportunity to make the wrong choices.

I'm still not clear why a super successful realtor wants to get involved with a mobster and an escort service. Nicole has the attention of 2 doctors and an ex who would take her back in a minute and she heads off to a bar in a slinky dress? I feel like Nicole has moved away from the calm, wise presence we saw at first. I know the marriage betrayal shook her but... I can see Bill being disenchanted with Hayley as all she seems to do is cling on to him-either nagging or trying to get sexay. Always a chuckle when Hayley and Randy meet up in a public place regularly frequented by half the town for their top secret meet ups. And luckily, it's always a time when none of the other regulars are there.

Yes they are ignoring workplace drama/interactions which can add character depth and plot complications.

Floyd came in late 79 just before the Dobsons departed. Wonder what the plan was for that character? Was he destined for Lainie Marler, another recent arrival? Or Hillary? Lainie was another of those characters who deserved a comeback. Why do new writers pretty much ignore past characters? And please, I don't want to hear how they get paid extra to create new characters...